Exploring Prepaid Disbursements with Simon Thomas.
We sat down with Simon Thomas, our Senior Product Manager, to discuss the growing trend of prepaid disbursements and how allpay is leading the charge within the public sector.
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💡 Can you give us an overview of allpay’s prepaid card offering and how it’s evolved since its launch?
Our prepaid card service is designed to support local authorities, government bodies, and housing associations in distributing funds for critical programs such as benefits, social care payments, personal budgets, asylum seeker support. We provide this service to ensure that recipients can access and spend their funds when needed.
For the organisations, our goal is to provide the technology needed to distribute these funds quickly and efficiently, with appropriate restrictions in place to ensure that public money is used as intended. We achieve this through cloud-based portals that enable customisation of prepaid card features. We recognise that many recipients depend on these funds for essential needs like food, daily expenses, and critical care support, so the system must and is reliable and resilient.
💡 Prepaid cards are often associated with specific use cases like travel & expenses or gift cards. Are there any industries or sectors where you see significant growth potential for prepaid cards?
Yes, there are several industries and sectors where there is significant growth potential for prepaid cards, particularly in relation to rising costs of living and the need for emergency support. As the cost of living continues to rise, governments are increasingly using prepaid cards to distribute welfare benefits, unemployment assistance, and emergency relief funds. Prepaid cards provide a quick, efficient, and secure way to disburse funds to those in need, ensuring that assistance reaches recipients faster than traditional methods like cheques or direct deposits, especially during emergencies or natural disasters.
Also within the Healthcare and Social Services are increasing costs of healthcare and the rising need for emergency support services, prepaid cards can be used to manage and distribute funds for medical expenses, prescriptions, and urgent care needs. They offer a flexible solution for patients who need immediate access to funds, especially those who are underinsured or have high out-of-pocket expenses.
With the need for more budgeting and everyone looking at what and how they spend prepaid cards to provide a way to budget for everyday expenses, as they provide a way to manage spending amidst rising living costs.
Rising cost of living and need for emergency support
Increased focus on security and fraud prevention
Flexibility and convenience for recipients
Integration with sustainability goals
Digital transformation and technology advancements
💡 Security is a major concern in payments. How is allpay addressing security with its prepaid card solutions?
The latest prepaid card security trends focus on addressing app fraud, which is a major industry concern. To combat this, allpay implements Confirmation of Payee (CoP) checks to ensure that the person initiating a transaction is indeed the legitimate cardholder. Additionally, we utilise Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for payments, requiring users to verify their identity through multiple steps. This layered security approach is designed to protect against unauthorised transactions and fraud.
However, it's important to strike a balance between security and user experience. While strong security measures like CoP checks and MFA are essential, we recognise that too much friction can frustrate legitimate users attempting to make payments. Therefore, our goal is to enhance security without overly complicating the transaction process, ensuring a smooth and secure experience for our customers.
💡 Customer experience is key in any financial product. What steps is allpay taking to enhance the user experience?
We are updating our portal and improving the user experience to ensure that organisations using our products can quickly and easily access what they need, in a way that best suits them. This also includes enabling cardholders to manage their cards more effectively.
💡 How does allpay’s partnership with financial institutions like Enfuce impact the development of your prepaid card products?
New partnerships give you fresh eyes on what you do and how you do it. Is this the best user journey it can be? Is there a better more technological way to do it? Partnering with leading suppliers helps us to continue to innovate and offer leading solutions to our clients.
💡 Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in the payments industry. How is allpay addressing environmental concerns in its prepaid card offerings?
From a card perspective, our cards are made from recycled plastic, and we are proud to now showcase the Mastercard sustainability badge. Additionally, our enhanced portals, now include a carbon footprint calculation for each transaction based on the average purchase amount at the merchant. Our future plan is to offer this information to organisations to incorporate it into their sustainability strategies.
Enhanced security measures (e.g., MFA, Confirmation of Payee)
Expansion into new industries and sectors
Improved customer experience and usability
Partnerships with financial institutions for innovation
Sustainability initiatives (e.g., recycled materials, carbon footprint tracking)
